Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category

I thought I'd just use Posterous for the ThingADay posts, but I've found it especially useful to post via email. I'm sure I can do the same on WordPress, but I just found a site explaining how to configure mine and it's very late now my mind is a little too tired to digest… so, I thought I'd cheat and send this to my TAD auto-poster and let it do its WordPress magic. Thoughts I want to put out there:

1. I'd like to know if my swap partner has received their swap in the mail yet…??? Is it OK to say who it is now?

2. Last week, I decided to make more stuffies. So I'm now in the process of deciding which (stuffed) animals I'll be making next and knowing very little about them, I've had to do a lot of looking around… I don't even really know where to begin looking, so I've done searches like "animal kingdom" and "animal classes" and clicked on a bunch of links several layers down from that. I just realized how many animal websites I've visited in the last 2 weeks and probably learned more about animals in that time than I have in the last 30 years. It is a foreign curiosity, but currently I am compelled, so I press on.

3. Is there really going to be a summer TAD? What happened to the weekly? How's March going for you?

OK, so tomorrow (or when I get around to it next), I will read the WP config again and probably leave Posterous for the next TAD adventure (we'll see). Until then, if you want to stay in touch, find me here www.karizmatic.com

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For those of you who don’t know me well, I don’t have a great history with animals. I’ve been bitten by dogs more than once (once by my own dog) and I’m also allergic to most furry things so we’ve never really had an opportunity to mend fences… it’s mostly a fear of dogs these days. Over the years, my relationship with animals has improved and although I no longer have panic attacks when dogs bark (yes, even the little tiny ones), my heart still does race when they do, so I don’t exactly feel any urges for a pet-and-sneeze session.

In the last part of Thing A Day, I discovered a great way to use up the little bits of furry fabric scraps I had and it propelled me into making animals. Call it therapy, if you like. I call it, “Maybe I can finally clear out all these little pieces of fabric I’m hoarding without having to throw them away (I am even using the remnants from my own cuts as part of the stuffing)”.

I’ll be honest – a couple of weeks ago, I made this mouse and when I stuffed the tail and was smoothing it out, there was a moment of creep factor that crawled up my spine and I actually momentarily dropped it before I realized that it was just fabric. Aside from the panic-and-run reflexes I’ve had to practice calming down, I’ve found that it’s actually a great exercise for thinking about making patterns 3-dimensionally (hopefully this will help when I come back to making clothes).

So, in this last project, I decided to see if I could imitate a dog I know. I found some pictures of her at varying angles and picked out a few of her distinct characteristics like her spots (hence the “black eye” on one side); the fact that she likes to rest her head on things – so, I made her head stick out a bit; and the fact that her mom says it’s hard to put a leash on her because her neck is about as big – or bigger – than her head, so I tried to keep them about the same. I think I should have probably used a matching colored thread and there was a part of the belly that I didn’t quite have enough fabric for and I thought it would come out OK, but I do see now that it makes the legs look a bit too close together, but lessons learned for the next one, I guess.

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I had a craft party just before moving to SF and my friend, Ferrie, brought 3 boxes of fabric of all types and sizes. I couldn't figure out what to do with the small pieces and just didn't want to throw them away…I've just recently realized that they are perfect for making stuffed toys like this one. It's an OX!

I actually didn't have enough of one color to make this, but I really dig how the combination of the 3 colors came together (parts from the same scraps: head and belly/bottom; horns and tail; body). Unlike the elephant and mouse I did a few weeks ago I decided to skip the pattern and free hand the shapes on this one and sew it by hand (I don't know why; I just felt like it). I also used the shreds of scrap fabric from the cut outs as part of the stuffing. Finally, I crocheted the nosering, left a long tail at the end and used the tail to sew it into its nose. (I say it because I assume the recipient will name it; are there girl oxen?) I used the same yellow yarn to "brand" it with my initials on the bottom.

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This (soon dubu, aka korean tofu stew) is my favorite dish ever. PERIOD. There is something so special to me about the heat of the dish, both in flavor and in temperature. I love the arresting chokes on the first couple of bites from what feels like the chili flakes scraping my throat raw and the heat that radiates throughout my body when I take a bite of a whole piece of tofu. I cheated a bit and used dashi stock instead of making homemade fish broth. I DID used my homemade kimchi for the veggies. I was sweating the whole time I ate this thing and had to take a shower right after eating it from the stink of sweat and garlic. Alas, I can't wash the garlic scent in my breath (sorry to anyone I happen to see and come into close contact with in the next couple of days). I'll probably make some other "thing" today, but I'm not sure I can make anything else today that will make me feel as proud.

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I think these are double-sided fabric yoyo pendants (I haven't added any attachments like pins or hooks, so what they will eventually be is TBD). one picture is the opposite side of the other)

A thought: last year I didn't know TAD was only one month long and was sorely disappointed when it ended. This year, I've been a little more prepared, but somehow it doesn't seem any less sad. If anything, I think I am just sadder a little sooner. Anyone else getting the blues about it?

(On the bright side, since I'd like to try ending on a positive note, i dished out a bit of that kimchi I made yesterday to my neighbors today and just got a thank-you-it-was-good-with-my-dinner-tonight email, so it must have been good!)